Fred Claus

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

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Users say
(50)

4 out of 5 stars

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

Too good to be true, this. Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz, Miranda Richardson and Kathy Bates, plus Vince Vaughn reteamed with ‘Wedding Crashers’ director David Dobkin. Way too good to be true. Early on, Vaughn’s face-smashing donnybrook with an army of charity Santas bodes well. But he’s on autopilot here, rolling out his patented hustler-with-heart schtick as narky Chicago repo man, Fred, who’s little brother happens to be St Nick. Tough to blame Vaughn: slaloming between gooey seasonal cheese and near-the-knuckle sourness, this Christmas comedy struggles to stir knockabout kiddie fun with spiky adult themes of resentment and sibling rivalry. Lost on the wrong side of ‘Elf’ and ‘Bad Santa’, the script sleighs Fred to the North Pole to help his brother with the Yuletide push, hurdling reality checks with all the grace of a three-legged reindeer. Big laughs go missing and about 30 minutes should have been cut like deadwood– preferably Weisz’s rub-a-dub London accent and Vaughn’s ‘dancing’. But there’s no beating that cast. All sausage fingers, frazzled hair and morbid obesity, Giamatti is the first Santa to admit to acid reflux and sleep apnoea. No guessing if Spacey’s glacial contempt is simply for his role as an efficiency expert trying to shut down Santa – either way, it works a treat. What’s more, Dobkin’s film is lit up by a couple of genius scenes: first, a siblings support-group attended by Frank Stallone, Stephen Baldwin and Roger Clinton; second, a superb in-joke triggering Spacey’s redemptive thaw-out, stoking a festive glow against all the odds.

Went to see this with my husband and young niece. Really enjoyed it, was good family fun and filled me with christmas spirit, Thought it would be one of those naff cheesy movies but much better than i dreaded it would be.

Went to see this with my husband and young niece. Really enjoyed it, was good family fun and filled me with christmas spirit, Thought it would be one of those naff cheesy movies but much better than i dreaded it would be.

I like vince vaughn so i wsa pretty much sold from the word go but it is cheesy and i think thats why kids like it. Took my son (6) to see it and he only went to the loo once which means he liked it. If you remember it's not aimed at adults then you'll be fine. funny film. To jerry-marie. sorry about your little sister, glad she enjoyed the film. Jx

I like vince vaughn so i wsa pretty much sold from the word go but it is cheesy and i think thats why kids like it. Took my son (6) to see it and he only went to the loo once which means he liked it. If you remember it's not aimed at adults then you'll be fine. funny film. To jerry-marie. sorry about your little sister, glad she enjoyed the film. Jx

its sad reading the reviews that the youth of today post, no wonder they dont enjoy a film, half of them seem illiterate and dont understand the english language. "...wel datz wot a fink an me m8s al agree dis is da wickdst film man...." i rest my case, sigh......

its sad reading the reviews that the youth of today post, no wonder they dont enjoy a film, half of them seem illiterate and dont understand the english language. "...wel datz wot a fink an me m8s al agree dis is da wickdst film man...." i rest my case, sigh......

i hav not seen dis film but man it was great it was the funnyest thing in the word me m8 laughed so much his head blowed of ever1 laughed and then we all had a fun game of football wid is head so funny lol got 2 see no!!!! must see

i hav not seen dis film but man it was great it was the funnyest thing in the word me m8 laughed so much his head blowed of ever1 laughed and then we all had a fun game of football wid is head so funny lol got 2 see no!!!! must see

Well Well Well.....This film was .... POO! We were bored from the word fred claus! Don't get us wrong it was a entertaining film it just wasn't for us. We thought it was boring and the jokes were unconventional, We prefer ELF!

Well Well Well.....This film was .... POO! We were bored from the word fred claus! Don't get us wrong it was a entertaining film it just wasn't for us. We thought it was boring and the jokes were unconventional, We prefer ELF!

The film failed to energise a cinema full of very keen youngsters - they got two belly laughs out of the whole movie but mostly sat silent and morose. Short change then, this time around, but as there are many more holiday films in the pipeline all's not lost. The North pole village was quaint and Vince Vaughn stole all the scenes, other than when pitted against the Elves - who were great. The delightful Rachel Weisz was firing on half a valve and managed to kill a North London (UK) accent in a direly embarassing delivery as Vaughn's meter maid love interest. Don't take the kids - granny may love it and anyone born before the end of innocence.

The film failed to energise a cinema full of very keen youngsters - they got two belly laughs out of the whole movie but mostly sat silent and morose. Short change then, this time around, but as there are many more holiday films in the pipeline all's not lost. The North pole village was quaint and Vince Vaughn stole all the scenes, other than when pitted against the Elves - who were great. The delightful Rachel Weisz was firing on half a valve and managed to kill a North London (UK) accent in a direly embarassing delivery as Vaughn's meter maid love interest. Don't take the kids - granny may love it and anyone born before the end of innocence.

The film failed to energise a cinema full of very keen youngsters - they got two belly laughs out of the whole movie but mostly sat silent and morose. Short change then, this time around, but as there are many more holiday films in the pipeline all's not lost. The North pole village was quaint and Vince Vaughn stole all the scenes, other than when pitted against the Elves - who were great. The delightful Rachel Weisz was firing on half a valve and managed to kill a Watford? accent in a direly embarassing delivery as Vaughn's meter maid love interest. Don't take the kids - granny may love it and anyone born before the end of innocence.

The film failed to energise a cinema full of very keen youngsters - they got two belly laughs out of the whole movie but mostly sat silent and morose. Short change then, this time around, but as there are many more holiday films in the pipeline all's not lost. The North pole village was quaint and Vince Vaughn stole all the scenes, other than when pitted against the Elves - who were great. The delightful Rachel Weisz was firing on half a valve and managed to kill a Watford? accent in a direly embarassing delivery as Vaughn's meter maid love interest. Don't take the kids - granny may love it and anyone born before the end of innocence.

I saw this last Saturday and it's beyond stupid, the only actors in this film that manage a good performance are Paul Giamatti and Rachel Weisz and even they did not look happy to be in this stupid film.

I saw this last Saturday and it's beyond stupid, the only actors in this film that manage a good performance are Paul Giamatti and Rachel Weisz and even they did not look happy to be in this stupid film.